Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Annual Review 2008/2009 Introduction Chairman’s report Welcome to the 2008-09 Annual Review for the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Partnership. Once again it has been a very busy year, with the review of the AONB's Management Plan being the key focus of the team's work. This plan guides the decision-making process of all our partners and stakeholders in the Blackdown Hills, as well as the work of AONB team, and it is a statutory requirement that it is reviewed every five years. This time it had to have an accompanying Strategic Environmental Appraisal and Habitat Regulations Assessment to ensure that none of its future policies and objectives would have a damaging effect on the AONB's important environment. The plan was adopted by our six local authority partners and approved by Natural England by the end of the year. I should like to extend a big thank-you to all those involved. The year certainly had its highlights. Many members of our community joined us at Celebrating the Blackdowns, an event which provided a wonderful showcase for many of the projects supported by our six-year LEADER+ programme which came to an end in 2008. On the day we were also able to announce the successful outcome of our joint bid with East Devon AONB for the Making it Local programme - a £2.4 million fund from the Rural Development Programme for England that will enable us to carrying on supporting the environment and local economy of the Blackdown Hills. Our Sustainable Development Fund continues to kick-start exciting innovative projects – 20 received funding this year. Initiatives ranged from parish plans and farm carbon audits to an oral history project and a Blackdown Hills Business Association conference, Riding the Storm. Encouraging people to enjoy our glorious countryside has been a major theme of the year. The new format Countryside Events programme has been extremely popular, with leaflets now distributed in pubs and shops in distinctive, locally-made dispensers. The programme is also listed online as part of our re-designed website. Five new circular riding routes, and the Neroche Scheme's 13-mile Herepath, make the Blackdown Hills a prime destination for horse riding. At the end of the year the first all-ability trail in the AONB was opened at Staple Hill funded as part of the Neroche Scheme. Visiting the countryside is now recognised as bringing real health benefits, so I would encourage you all to come out into the Blackdown Hills to enjoy the stunning landscape and experience some of the wide range of special local products. Paul Diviani Chairman, Blackdown Hills AONB 2 Blackdown Hills Annual Review 2008/2009 Cotswolds AONBs and National Parks in South West England North Wessex (Redrawn from original map supplied by Natural England) Downs Mendip Hills Exmoor Quantock Hills North Devon Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs BLACKDOWN New HILLS Forest Dorset East Devon Dartmoor Tamar Valley Cornwall South Devon Isles of Scilly Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is a landscape which is considered so precious that it is protected for the nation. The criteria for designating an AONB include valuable wildlife, habitats, geology and heritage, as well as scenic views. There are 47 AONBs in England and Wales. AONBs have existed since 1949, although the Blackdown Hills was designated relatively recently, in 1991. The natural fabric of these important places is fragile, so the primary purpose of all AONBs is to conserve and enhance the landscape. 60 years of protected landscapes in the UK The National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act was passed in 1949. It established how the countryside could be protected and enjoyed by future generations. The 1949 Act paved the way for the creation of today's family of 15 UK National Parks, 47 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs), 294 National Nature Reserves and 2,900 miles of National Trails. For more information, including walks, visit www.diamondsinthelandscape.org.uk. The Blackdown Hills AONB The Blackdown Hills, which lie on the border of Devon and Somerset, was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1991. The AONB covers 370 square kilometres of varied landscape including steep wooded slopes, high plateau, lush valleys and rolling farmland. The Blackdown Hills AONB Partnership is the body which exists to protect this special place. This partnership is made up of local authorities, interest groups, national agencies and local communities, all of which are committed to ensuring that the Blackdown Hills remains a healthy, living landscape for future generations. Blackdown Hills Annual Review 2008/2009 3 Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty 4 Blackdown Hills Annual Review 2008/2009 Working together The Blackdown Hills AONB is managed by a partnership of organisations which all work to protect the area, in addition to the activities of the staff team. Blackdown Hills AONB Partnership Made up of over 80 local authorities, government agencies, community groups, conservation bodies, parish councils and other organisations with an interest in the landscape. Management group Funders group 21 representatives drawn A subgroup of the from, and elected by, the management group, Partnership. This group made up of those oversees the staff team and organisations which fund sets the direction the work of the AONB. of the AONB. Steering groups AONB team Projects Expert local panels on topics Staff team of six, Local people carry out a huge such as heritage, biodiversity based at Hemyock. range of projects with our support and farming. and funding. Event leaders Volunteers Over 90 events a year in our Volunteers are involved in all programme are run by local aspects of countryside and leaders and groups. wildlife conservation. This review deals with the work of the agreements and provide the • Mid-Devon District Council’s staff team, based in Hemyock. greatest environmental benefit to Housing Needs Survey led to the However, members of our the area. development of nine units of partnership also undertake a huge • Devon Wildlife Trust’s grazing affordable housing for local people amount of work each year which project has introduced ponies to in Hemyock. helps to deliver the overarching Lickham Common Nature Reserve in • Taunton Deane Borough Council management plan for the Blackdown an initiative which will act as an supported work to restore and example of heathland management Hills AONB. Just a few examples this manage Otterhead Lakes Local for wildlife. year include: Nature Reserve. • Devon County Council’s Historic • Butterfly Conservation carried out a • East Devon District Council’s Water Environment Team has carried out programme of winter works, Vole Recovery Project continues to excavations on pottery production preparing several sites to encourage encourage the natural colonisation and iron smelting sites in Hemyock. rare butterflies this summer. of the Axe by water voles which are thriving on the Somerset and Dorset • The National Trust carried out a This is just a very small selection of borders. comprehensive structural survey of the conservation and community the Wellington Monument which will • Natural England staff have targeted efforts carried out by members of the underpin future conservation work. the Blackdowns to encourage more Blackdown Hills AONB Partnership farmers into High Level Stewardship during 2008/09. See back cover for a full list of AONB Partnership organisations Blackdown Hills Annual Review 2008/2009 5 Landscape and Environment The primary purpose of the AONB is to conserve and enhance the landscape. We do this by working with local authorities, conservation bodies, farmers, landowners and local people to protect the distinctive countryside and wildlife of the Blackdown Hills. Some of our achievements in 2008/09 Landscape Character Management Plan confirm the grasshopper's status, and clear scrub to improve the Assessment The AONB management plan habitat. There is a strong possibility Over recent years a landscape highlights the special qualities of the that this rare insect can be brought character assessment and area and helps to guide and inform back from the brink of extinction in accompanying landscape the decisions of all those with an the Blackdown Hills. management guidelines have been interest in the AONB. This year we developed for the Blackdown Hills have completed our review of the Winter Works and East Devon. This year the management plan for 2004 - 2009 assessment and guidelines have and produced a new plan for the This Devon Wildlife Trust project been made available online and as a next five years. This process received SDF funding to conserve published document. The included environmental assessment and improve wet heathland and information has been integrated into and a period of consultation with neutral unimproved grassland at East Devon District Council's partners and the public before the Ashculm Turbary, Lickham Common planning system to enable quick plan was adopted by each of our and The Rough. Reserve officers and easy landscape referencing by local authorities. worked with contractors and local officers. people to remove scrub and Large Marsh Grasshopper construct a new boardwalk over Noise Position Statement In September 2006 the rare large boggy ground at Lickham Common. One of the AONB's special qualities marsh grasshopper (Stethophyma An invertebrate survey will also be is tranquillity. Noise comes from grossum), the UK's largest carried out. The Trust intends to numerous sources including roads, grasshopper, was recorded at encourage farmers to visit the sites aeroplanes, agriculture, public Ringdown Nature Reserve, and replicate some of the wildlife events and surrounding towns. Churchstanton. It was last seen in friendly management techniques on Controls on noise pollution are Somerset in1989 and it was their own land.